dancing cloud Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Someone broke into the field ! I know, mind boggles, but they took the field gate off its pins, wandered along the top edge and broke out again, by snapping one small fence post off at the ground and kicking a larger one out of the ground to barge over the stock fencing. We're fairly sure we know who did it and it seems to have come down to convenience - more convenient to smash through my property than walk a longer way round - so the question is how to make it less convenient in future? I know if someone is determined enough they can just climb over the wall, but it is way too easy to take the gate off. The 8ft steel gate is on ancient 6ft stone pillars with 1-inch wide, 6 in long wrought-iron pins carefully crafted and welded into the posts a couple of centuries ago, so no chance of simply turning over the top hinge. The pins are not threaded and we are nowhere near a power source to try drilling through. My dad is muttering about collars that we can tighten and then take off the screw head, but I can't find any to buy anywhere on t'internet. Mind you, he's also muttering about land mines Any ideas? We can't be the first people this has ever happened to and we just need to make it too difficult to come through our land and more attractive to find another way. I would really rather avoid barbed wire, as there's oodles of wildlife uses the field as well as us and our dogs, and I don't want anything to get hurt. I am, however feeling very "invaded" and am prepared to consider most solutions. On the up-side, there's rabbits, foxes and badgers enjoying the field - as well as trespassers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 if you've got a half decent battery drill you could drill a hole trough it might take a couple or so batteries to do it start with a 5mm pilot hole then open it up to at least 8.5mm then use a 8mm diameter bolt with a nyloc nut it'll at least slow them down a bit. a generator and electric drill would be a better option other than that you'll need a petrol welder to weld a plate of some sort onto the pin to stop the gate been lifted up but it the pin is iron it might not weld there is a Security Shear Nut that you could use instead of the nyloc nut it has a nut on the end of a cone like nut that is designed to snap off once tight once it's on and the nut is snapped off you can only remove the cone with a grinder or hack saw you could cut a thread into the pin but that's not easy on a gate hinge as you'd need a ratchet die cutter with die that would thread a 1inch bar or what ever the actual diameter of the pin is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Sounds like serious equipment needed. May have to be done, though I think I may have found the sort of thing my dad was looking for here:- http://www.signetlocks.co.uk/hinges-and-post-caps/hinge-pin-security-collars-for-25mm-pin-detail We'd have to measure very carefully to make sure 25mm was the right size for our old imperial not-exactly-round-any-more pins, as two of these plus p&p cost £35 . Wonder how much spiky man-traps cost? (Heads off to have a look on ebay ...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Land mines... sniper towers.... Seriously, we have problem with incursions onto the estate at work; I will ask the gamekeeper what he recommends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Just put a tight chain and padlock on the hinge side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Found some cheaper collars - shaft collars used in power transmissions. A fraction of the costs of "security" collars for exactly the same thing, thick steel ring tightened with a grub screw. We still need to go and measure very accurately and then we should be able to stop potential invaders simply lifting the gate off. Of course, the trespasser could still climb over the gate and we are reasonably certain they will be back. I could wrap the top bar with barbed wire, but I'm really not keen on barbed wire, having spent a lot of time and effort getting rid of all of it from the field (not very wildlife or dog friendly). One excellent suggestion on a farming forum was to grease the gate bars with marine grease to make it difficult for someone to climb on. No direct damage to anything or anyone, just make it nice and slippery - I liked it! I also had a thought about making it less convenient to barge over the stock fencing. Barbed wire between posts and wrapped round the tops of the posts was the most obvious solution to discourage them from shoving the posts out of the ground and trampling over the wire, but I don't fancy barbed wire - wildlife/dogs etc. Then it occurred to me (part way down a large glass of wine ) - brambles! Natural barbed wire! The field's full of them and they're getting ready to sprout, so if I take lots of cuttings and dib them in along the fence, I should be able to wind them into the fence and round the posts as they grow. There's 60m of fence, so I'll need hundreds of cuttings, but there's no shortage of materials and it's free, environmentally friendly, quick-growing but able to be pruned back, and will even give me a good crop of blackberries in autumn I accept we can't totally stop anyone determined from getting into the field and causing damage, but I think we are now heading for solutions that should make it a lot less attractive as an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 How about putting up a beware of the Bull sign I would pay to see anyone crossing your field then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 We sometimes keep Longhorn cows in a field at work that is bordered by a bridleway, we have lots of signs saying the 'Cows with calves can be dangerous, please keep off the field'; that seems to help them keep to the bridleway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 We'd considered "Beware of the Bull", but you can see from the gate that there's no big beasties in the field . "Adder breeding zone, beware poisonous snakes" might have been fun (not that we've got any adders in there). "Beware of wild boar" may have given them cause to think as well, but they'd probably still risk it Bramble shoots have now been installed and I'm making encouraging noises at them, along the lines of "Grow you little wotsits, grow!". There's about 4 or 5 every metre along the 60m fence, so they should soon be forming a good spiky and environmentally friendly deterrent to anyone wanting to climb over. We're pretty certain that our invader was an employee of the water company, accessing grids towards the end of their adjoining retained trackway via the field, as the most convenient route and the way they have always gone. In through our gate and out from our field circumvents a high chain-link barrier across their trackway that the water company seem determined not to move. As it is possible the employee did not know the field had been sold, the plan is to get a large sign that makes it clear the field is now private land with no access and to make it a lot less convenient to get in and out. Stop the gate being lifted off and make shoving their way out over the fence less easy. We have no proof it was the water company, so I have let them know about the invasion as a "concerned neighbour", inviting them to check their own boundaries in case they were damaged as well (bet they weren't!). Hopefully they will have gentle words with their staff but, unless they remove their barrier from their land, there is no other way of them accessing those grids, which is why we think they may be back. The really daft thing is the field was bought from the water company, and it was one of their conditions of sale that we had to erect the fence separating field and track On the up-side though, I love the field, the dogs really love the field and there's lots of wildlife - definitely badgers visiting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 How did this turn out in the end? I was wondering if you could put a battery operated camera anywhere (in the hedge maybe?) We have one on our allotment which is motion triggered, we can set the time that it operates. It does need regular checking for battery depletion, but the recordings always make me giggle. (Usually it is DH arriving, walking past the camera, leaving, in a succession of different coloured tops). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 So far, touch wood (my head will do) we've had no more intruders . The "private land" signs recommended by the police have been installed, the stock fencing has a single strand of barbed wire along the top and we bought collars for the gate pins to stop it being easy to take off. The bramble cuttings have not grown as well as I hoped and I may have taken them too early to be successful. Plenty more raw material to have another go with! We did look at cameras and it is a possibility if we have trouble again. The badgers are still visiting and I've seen very small deer prints in the mud, as well as fox prints and lots of little unidentified-beastie tracks. It's definitely a very lively field ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Only just catching up.... that sounds like a result, Dancing Cloud. Long may it continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
